Fire escape



'Jam- 29, 1924' 26 R. D. NILEON FIRE ESCAPE I Filed June 24, 1921 Sheets-Sheet 1 llyrewrori.

Illllm 1,482,026 R. D. NILEON FIRE ESCAPE Filed June 24 1921 5 She'ets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JMWL 14 new Jan. 29 1924.

R. D. NILEO N FIRE ESCAPE '2 sheets sheet Filed June 24, 1921 /NVE YTOR Patented Jan. E9, 1924.

titre stares Brennan 1). NILEON, or D NVER, ooroaeno.

FIRE ESCAPE.

Application filed June 24, 1921'. Serial No. 480,081.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD D. NILEoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at- Denver, in the State of Colorado, have invented. certain new and useful Improvements in a. Fire Escape, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in collapsible fire escapes and more particularly to an improved apparatus having the general appearance of a rocking chair and constructed to include a collapsible ladder which may be quickly opened and thrown out of a window to be placed in operative position on the side of the building when a fire occurs.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a fire escapewhich will, ordinarily be used as a chair, and which may be the means of saving lives during a fire by permitting the occupants of a building to descend from an open window. Y easily and quickly and with a mlnimum danger.

Another 0b ect of the lnvention is to pro vide a collapsible fire escape which may be quickly opened and thrown into an operative posltion, the varlous parts which are unessential'to the fire escape when in use,

automaticallydropping from the structure so that a complete ladder will be formed, hung from a windowsill and properly spaced from the wall of a building to permit the user to gain a foot hold on the ladder rung. Other objects of theinvention will appear upon consideration of the following detail description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention, and showing the general appearance of a rocking chair which entirely contains the device.

Figure 2 is a detail view of a. cloth bag or hood adapted to fit over the back of the chair to enclose som of the structure,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the drum upon which the ladder is wound,

Figure 4 is a side view of the fire escape in operative position,

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the same, Figure 6 is a cross section through the appa atus before being opened,

Figure 7 is a detail view of the end of one of the frame members,

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the meeting ends of the front and bottom frame members,

Figure 9 is a cross section showing the pivoting means for the frame members, and Figure 10 is a perspective view showing one of the ladder rungs shaped "in accordance with the structure incorporated in the invention.

Referring to the d 'awing by numerals, the back of the chair consists of two elongated frame members 1, the terminals being connected to a cross rod '2 which acts as a connecting pivot for the links 3, the terminals of which are connected to retaining hooks 4c. The lower ends of theframe members 1 are connected by the pivot rod 5 to the frame members 6 which form the rockers for the chair, the pivot member 5 being approximately midway between the ends of the rockers. 'The forward end of the rockers 6 is connected to a front frame bar 7 by a pivot rod 8 and the lower end of each frame bar 7 is equipped with an abutment lug 9 adaptedgto engage the upper edge of the rocker as shown in Fig. 8, to limit the backward swinging movement of the frame member 7 so that the frame memher will be held in the proper relative posi tion with respect to the rocker 6. The

upper ends of the front frame bars 7 are pivotally connected by the pivot rod 10 to the top frame bars 11 whichsupport the seat of the rocker and the lower edges. ofv

the, frame bars 11 areprovided with notches 12 forming hooks adapted to be caught over the retaining rod 13 placed approximat'ely midway the ends of the back frame bars 1 as shown to advantage in Fig. 6 of thedrawing. Midway the rods2 and 13 is another rod 14 against which the ends of the books 4 are engaged when the device is in inoperative position. Mounted upon the frame bars 11 is a sheet of suitable material whichmay be metal or any other kind of material forming a seat'lo and this is provided with a hook member '16 adapted to be caught over the rod 13 to maintain the seat 15 in place. A front panel 16 covers the front of the chair and rests against the front frame bars 7, the upper edge of the panel 16 being pivotally connected to the seat 15 so that these two parts 15 and 16 are pivotally connected together and are snugly fitted between the front and top frame bars 7 and 11 respectively to form a neat structure and give an attractive appearance to the chair when it is in the form shown in Fig. l of the drawing.

The bottom of the chair directly beneath the seat and between the rockers 6 is provided with. a bottom panel ll'ythe forward edge being hooked over the pivot rod 8 to maintain the panel in position, the rear edge e edge is provided with suitable connections with the top pivot member 2 so that the panel will be held in position while the chair is in use, but which will. permit the panel to readily drop ofi when the apparatus is thrown into operative position. The sides of the chair are closed by the two side panels shown in detail in Fig. 3 and forming the ends of a reel which includes the reel rods 21 attached to the circular end pieces 22 which are secured to the side panels 20. This structure forms a reel upon which the flexible rope ladder 23 is wound loosely. The rope ladder consists of parallel strands of wire cable or rope, attached at regular intervals to the rungs 24 of the ladder,

the terminals of which are provided with right angularly projecting prongs 25 the the terminals of which are pointed to engage the wall of the building as shown in the drawing whereby the rungs of the ladder are held away from the wall to permit the userto gain a good foot hold on the ladder rungs when he is descending. The terminals of the cable or rope forming the ladder are connected to the rear ends of the top frame bars 11 as indicated at 26 and the ladder is wound around the reel in a manner that will permit it to quickly and easily unwind when the device is opened.

When the apparatus is in folded position to form the chair, the back and hook members 4 with the links 3 are covered by a cloth covering in the form of a bag or casing 28 which is provided with straps 29 and 30 adapted to be secured together to maintain the cover in position. VV'hen the chairis opened or unfolded, the bag or cover 28 will be removed and the straps may be chair will be thrust out of a window and the hooks 4 will be caught under the windowsill in the interior of the room, the links 3 rest-' ing upon the top of the windowsill as shown in Fig. 4. The hook members 12 will then be disconnected frointhe rods 13 and the frame structure, being pivotally connected at the ends of the frame pieces will drop to the elongated position shown in F 4 while the reel will continue to unwind and drop to the ground the ladder dropping out in the proper form to serve as a descending ladder. \Vhile this is occurring the panels forming the chair covering will entirely drop from the structure leaving nothing but the essential. portions of the ladder structure.

It will be apparent from the above that the apparatus will present a neat appearance and may be used as a comfortable chair, while at the same time, it may be quickly thrown into operative position for use as a fire escape thus serving to save the lives of persons occupying a burning buildin when other means of escape is cut off.

Minor changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of thein-vention or thesco-pe of the claim hereunto appended.

\Vhat is claimed is A device of the class described comprising an elongated frame structure adapted to form a chair, said frame including. a series of pivotally connected frame bars, loosely connected panels mounted upon the frame structure, hook members mounted on the frame structure to support the same from a window sill, said structure including side panels, cross arms extending transversely between the panels and connected thereto to form a reel, and a flexible ladder attached to the ends of two of the frame bars and normally wound upon the said reel and adapted to unwind therefrom when said'structure is open.

In testimony whereof, I have atlixed my signature.

RICHARD D. NILEON.

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